Ava DuVernay
Film critics and moviegoers alike were expecting DuVernay to make award season history at the Oscars and the Golden Globes, but nobody needed to see her take home the awards to validate her as an amazing director. In addition to her movie Selma being nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards, she received incredible amounts of praise from Black leaders for how she was able to bring the Civil Rights Movement to life on film. DuVernay was also the first Black woman to be nominated for a Best Director award by the Golden Globes, Forbes reported.
Julie Dash
Dash has already made her mark in directorial history and will always be a name that any film student should remember. As her official biography points out, her 1991 debut film Daughters of the Dust broke down barriers for women of color in Hollywood and became the first film by a Black woman to ever receive general theatrical release. The film captured Gullah culture off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia and took an unusual approach to narration. Rather than have the story narrated by a living character that was present on screen, the film was instead narrated by the Unborn Child, according to a synopsis of the film released by the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Since first making her mark in history, she has directed multiple projects, including the Emmy-nominated The Rosa Parks Story.
